Interstate 685

[Henry]

I'm not sure what the exact route of a proposed I-85 extension west of Montgomery would be, but does anyone else find the irony that in order for I-85 south to connect Montgomery with Selma, it will have to travel in a NNW trajectory?

Which is the opposite of what it normally takes, a SSW trajectory. But there's precedent for Interstates bending the opposite way, the most prominent example being the Tidewater region's I-64 east that actually travels west.

[tidecat]

I've driven the I-77/81 wrong way multiplex.  It won't be that big of a deal, and Alabama could even seek to do something like Michigan did with I-69 an sign it east/west.

[brownpelican]

if this extension comes to pass those who are Going from Meridian to Atlanta will have their choice: Either take I-85 to the Airport and then downtown or Take I-20 directly downtown. Really, I think the extension of I-85 to I-20-59 is highly redundant. Why do we need two Interstates that goes to the same place? One road to Atlanta is enough.

I agree. Just a waste of time.

[Charles2]

if this extension comes to pass those who are Going from Meridian to Atlanta will have their choice: Either take I-85 to the Airport and then downtown or Take I-20 directly downtown. Really, I think the extension of I-85 to I-20-59 is highly redundant. Why do we need two Interstates that goes to the same place? One road to Atlanta is enough.

I agree. Just a waste of time.

Evidently it's been a while since you've traveled I-20 between Birmingham and Atlanta.  Even with the widening of I-20 between Birmingham and the Georgia state line, this is a very crowded highway.  Anything to provide relief in east-central Alabama would be welcomed.

[froggie]

However, such relief does not necessarily have to take the form of an Interstate shield.

Nevermind that the vast majority of traffic on that stretch of I-20 is B'ham-Anniston-Atlanta traffic, not longer-distance traffic.

[brownpelican]

Right now, there is LITTLE traffic on US 80 between Montgomery and Meridian. Do you REALLY expect traffic counts to skyrocket with I-85 extended? I think not.

[ARMOURERERIC]

Maybe they are being slick, what happens when 69 is completed to I-20 but not between there and Memphis?

[Henry]

if this extension comes to pass those who are Going from Meridian to Atlanta will have their choice: Either take I-85 to the Airport and then downtown or Take I-20 directly downtown. Really, I think the extension of I-85 to I-20-59 is highly redundant. Why do we need two Interstates that goes to the same place? One road to Atlanta is enough.

I agree. Just a waste of time.

Evidently it's been a while since you've traveled I-20 between Birmingham and Atlanta.  Even with the widening of I-20 between Birmingham and the Georgia state line, this is a very crowded highway.  Anything to provide relief in east-central Alabama would be welcomed.

if this extension comes to pass those who are Going from Meridian to Atlanta will have their choice: Either take I-85 to the Airport and then downtown or Take I-20 directly downtown. Really, I think the extension of I-85 to I-20-59 is highly redundant. Why do we need two Interstates that goes to the same place? One road to Atlanta is enough.

I agree. Just a waste of time.

Evidently it's been a while since you've traveled I-20 between Birmingham and Atlanta.  Even with the widening of I-20 between Birmingham and the Georgia state line, this is a very crowded highway.  Anything to provide relief in east-central Alabama would be welcomed.

There is precedent to this, you know. Between Chicago and Madison, I-90 acts as a bypass of Milwaukee, a city that is served by I-94, and then from Tomah to Billings, I-90 can be used by motorists who wish to avoid the Twin Cities and Fargo (again, areas that are served by I-94).

[Avalanchez71]

an interstate built from Florence to Tuscaloosa to Mobile.

That already is in the works, as a toll road.  Its northern terminus is actually going to be at Highway 43 just south of the Tennessee border.  I'm actually not overly ecstatic about that road, however.  If I were to rank the most needed interstates in the Southeast, they would be:

#1.  I-24 in downtown Chattanooga --> Soddy-Daisy --> Dunlap --> Sparta --> Cookeville --> Celina --> Tompkinsville --> Glasgow -->  I-65 Cave City (overlaying much of Corridor J):  Shortens Chattanooga to Louisville distance (which is a segment of a MAJOR truck route) by 60 to 75 miles, relieves congestion through Nashville, I-24 east of Murfreesboro, and I-65 north of Goodlettsville

#2.  Chattanooga beltway on south, east, and north sides, from the I-24 / I-59 interchange through Chickamauga, Ringgold, and Collegedale to Highway 27 / Corridor J in Soddy-Daisy:  Relieves congestion in the city that has been ranked the most congested per lane mile for trucks

#3.  I-75 Dalton --> Chatsworth -->  Ellijay -->  Dahlonega -->  Toccoa -->  Anderson --> Laurens --> Columbia --> Sumter --> Myrtle Beach:  The Dalton to Anderson section especially will give Chattanooga to Greenville or vice-versa traffic an alternative to traveling down into metropolitan Atlanta and using the northern arc of I-285, and give communities that currently only a good road to the south an east-west route.  The Anderson to Laurens route (which the new terrain segment will be roughly 2 or 3 miles south of highways 8 and 418, the rest following interstates 85 and 385)  will connect the westernmost principle city of the Greenville / Spartanburg / Anderson CSA (the largest CSA) in the state better to the capital.  And the Columbia to Myrtle Beach segment will provide an additional route into and out of Myrtle Beach which would serve as a great hurricane evacuation route if needed.

#4.  Birmingham --> Auburn --> Columbus --> Albany --> Tifton --> Waycross --> Jacksonville:  Memphis is one of the nation's most important distribution centers, and Florida has 19 million population, so even if there were nothing else (which there is) this should be obvious

#5.  Florence -->  Rockingham -->  Asheboro -->  Greensboro (currently under construction as I-73):  It's already 60% complete, and the Greensboro / Winston-Salem area has grown quite large over the past couple decades and needs a better connection to the south

But even if we were limiting it to just Alabama (or passing through Alabama), I could think of two that would be better than the Mobile --> Tuscaloosa --> Florence, and those two would be:

#1.  Montgomery --> Troy --> Dothan --> Panama City

#2.  Memphis --> Corinth -->  Florence --> Decatur --> Huntsville --> Fort Payne -->  Rome --> Cartersville

1.   It will not happen.  Too many tax and tourist dollars would be diverted by having too much through traffic.  We need the money spent in fuel, rooms and tourism on the current routing.  Why spend our tax dollars to build something for out-of-towners while not getting any reward?

[Henry]

an interstate built from Florence to Tuscaloosa to Mobile.

That already is in the works, as a toll road.  Its northern terminus is actually going to be at Highway 43 just south of the Tennessee border.  I'm actually not overly ecstatic about that road, however.  If I were to rank the most needed interstates in the Southeast, they would be:

#1.  I-24 in downtown Chattanooga --> Soddy-Daisy --> Dunlap --> Sparta --> Cookeville --> Celina --> Tompkinsville --> Glasgow -->  I-65 Cave City (overlaying much of Corridor J):  Shortens Chattanooga to Louisville distance (which is a segment of a MAJOR truck route) by 60 to 75 miles, relieves congestion through Nashville, I-24 east of Murfreesboro, and I-65 north of Goodlettsville

#2.  Chattanooga beltway on south, east, and north sides, from the I-24 / I-59 interchange through Chickamauga, Ringgold, and Collegedale to Highway 27 / Corridor J in Soddy-Daisy:  Relieves congestion in the city that has been ranked the most congested per lane mile for trucks

#3.  I-75 Dalton --> Chatsworth -->  Ellijay -->  Dahlonega -->  Toccoa -->  Anderson --> Laurens --> Columbia --> Sumter --> Myrtle Beach:  The Dalton to Anderson section especially will give Chattanooga to Greenville or vice-versa traffic an alternative to traveling down into metropolitan Atlanta and using the northern arc of I-285, and give communities that currently only a good road to the south an east-west route.  The Anderson to Laurens route (which the new terrain segment will be roughly 2 or 3 miles south of highways 8 and 418, the rest following interstates 85 and 385)  will connect the westernmost principle city of the Greenville / Spartanburg / Anderson CSA (the largest CSA) in the state better to the capital.  And the Columbia to Myrtle Beach segment will provide an additional route into and out of Myrtle Beach which would serve as a great hurricane evacuation route if needed.

#4.  Birmingham --> Auburn --> Columbus --> Albany --> Tifton --> Waycross --> Jacksonville:  Memphis is one of the nation's most important distribution centers, and Florida has 19 million population, so even if there were nothing else (which there is) this should be obvious

#5.  Florence -->  Rockingham -->  Asheboro -->  Greensboro (currently under construction as I-73):  It's already 60% complete, and the Greensboro / Winston-Salem area has grown quite large over the past couple decades and needs a better connection to the south

But even if we were limiting it to just Alabama (or passing through Alabama), I could think of two that would be better than the Mobile --> Tuscaloosa --> Florence, and those two would be:

#1.  Montgomery --> Troy --> Dothan --> Panama City

#2.  Memphis --> Corinth -->  Florence --> Decatur --> Huntsville --> Fort Payne -->  Rome --> Cartersville

1.   It will not happen.  Too many tax and tourist dollars would be diverted by having too much through traffic.  We need the money spent in fuel, rooms and tourism on the current routing.  Why spend our tax dollars to build something for out-of-towners while not getting any reward?

What happened to the Hendersonville-Kings Mountain-Gastonia-Charlotte-Rockingham-Laurinburg-Whiteville-Wilmington route? Granted, parts of it are already built (as I-85, I-73 and I-74), but this is another Southeastern corridor that could use a new Interstate number.

[Grzrd]

Google Maps has posted April 2014 Street View imagery of the interchange construction.

[Henry]

And so it begins...

[Avalanchez71]

Is the traffic count even something that would warrant this?  Looks like a kickback and a boondoggle.

[brownpelican]

Is the traffic count even something that would warrant this?  Looks like a kickback and a boondoggle.

Right. 

[jdb1234]

Heading down to Montgomery later today.  If I have time I will check out the progress.

[codyg1985]

Heading down to Montgomery later today.  If I have time I will check out the progress.

It would be interesting to know if the new DMS signs along I-65 have been activated yet.

[jdb1234]

Heading down to Montgomery later today.  If I have time I will check out the progress.

It would be interesting to know if the new DMS signs along I-65 have been activated yet.

You mean like this:



When I went 3 weeks ago I did sneak over and snapped a few photos.  Here is one example:

[rickmastfan67]

Google Maps has posted April 2014 Street View imagery of the interchange construction.

Google also has new 45d imagery showing the ramps under-construction if you zoom in far enough.

[adventurernumber1]

Google Maps has posted April 2014 Street View imagery of the interchange construction.

Google also has new 45d imagery showing the ramps under-construction if you zoom in far enough.

Sweet! I'll have to check that out.

[Strider]

I am curious.. why are the ramps (flyovers) so high over the mainline? is the interchange supposed to be a tri-level stack in the future?

[I94RoadRunner]

I would save the 85 designation for going south via Dothan

Either that or another thought:I-85 to Mobile and I-65 through Dothan, Bainbridge and Tallahassee .....?

[codyg1985]

I would save the 85 designation for going south via Dothan

Either that or another thought:I-85 to Mobile and I-65 through Dothan, Bainbridge and Tallahassee .....?

I'd love to see the Montgomery to Meridian proposed I-85 get another number, such as I-16 (provided that got extended west from Macon to Columbus), then reroute I-65 and I-85 as you suggested. Or, do a more grand reshuffle as I think has been mentioned in this thread and others and reroute I-20 along the Meridian to Montgomery freeway, replace I-85 from Montgomery to Atlanta with I-20, truncate I-85 to Atlanta, and then extend I-22 east from Birmingham to Atlanta. That would also kill most of the long I-20/59 multiplex between Meridian and Birmingham, too. If a freeway between Montgomery and Dothan to I-10 ever gets built, then the former proposal would probably work best to avoid creating another long interstate multiplex.

Of course, both of those depend on all of those freeways being built in the first place, and at this point it seems like it is almost fictional highway territory with the way the federal funding for roads has been, and will probably continue to be for some time.

[I94RoadRunner]

I would save the 85 designation for going south via Dothan

Either that or another thought:I-85 to Mobile and I-65 through Dothan, Bainbridge and Tallahassee .....?

I'd love to see the Montgomery to Meridian proposed I-85 get another number, such as I-16 (provided that got extended west from Macon to Columbus), then reroute I-65 and I-85 as you suggested. Or, do a more grand reshuffle as I think has been mentioned in this thread and others and reroute I-20 along the Meridian to Montgomery freeway, replace I-85 from Montgomery to Atlanta with I-20, truncate I-85 to Atlanta, and then extend I-22 east from Birmingham to Atlanta. That would also kill most of the long I-20/59 multiplex between Meridian and Birmingham, too. If a freeway between Montgomery and Dothan to I-10 ever gets built, then the former proposal would probably work best to avoid creating another long interstate multiplex.

Of course, both of those depend on all of those freeways being built in the first place, and at this point it seems like it is almost fictional highway territory with the way the federal funding for roads has been, and will probably continue to be for some time.

I am aware that Dothan wants an interstate. It would make sense to me if so to route it east and include Bainbridge and into Tallahassee if it were to get built though as those are cities that would all receive the benefit of a new interstate highway. Despite Dothan pushing for an interstate, I highly doubt that a new N-S interstate through this area will happen in my lifetime ..... If ever!

[codyg1985]

I think if anything happens along that corridor it will be built as a toll road.

[ARMOURERERIC]

It looks like the structures are done and paving has started on this initial section, though it looks like a stupor 2.  Are their any thoughts as to when the next segment will start and if so where will the next terminus be?